Danger on the move

Flouting rules

People jumping in and out of buses is quite a common sight in the City. Although this is a dangerous trend, some passengers do not think twice before doing so.

Metrolife talked to people to understand why passengers resort to this kind of behaviour and how this can be curbed.

“People who stand on the footboard of a bus and those jumping off it are asking for trouble. This kind of behaviour can be seen primarily just before and after office and school hours. Students are often in a hurry to get to their destination,” says Shiv Kumar, a businessman, and resident of JP Nagar. He says drivers should make sure that the bus doors are closed after every stop.

“The drivers should not entertain people asking for lifts in between stops. Lack of buses leads to overloading and people standing on footboard,” he adds.

Shweta Gupta, an analyst, says, “Women are rarely seen doing this. This could be because they have been instructed from home to be careful. Also, they might be aware that their sari or churidar might stuck in the door while jumping off the bus. The chances of a mishap are therefore high.”

Shweta says that drivers should be clearly instructed on when and where to stop a bus.

 “Everyone’s in a hurry, but a strict watch needs to be kept on this,” she says.
Anjum Parwez, managing director of BMTC, says that the body is taking extra caution to avoid such situations.

He elaborates, “More than 3,500 old buses, which have a single door, are still on the road. Buses like these face this issue. People stand near the door and it can’t be closed.” Anjum says that Sarathi, the 11 mobile teams on the road, are keeping a close watch on buses.

“We are also planning on shifting entirely to new buses with two doors in the coming two years, which should curb this problem,” he adds.

This often happens in busy places, like in the midst of traffic, at signals, near market places or office areas.

“Footboard travelling is a scary thought. Added to that, people jump out of the buses when they are near their destination or when in a hurry. This is also commonly seen in areas where there are colleges or schools,” informs Althaf Pasha DM, a Hindi lecturer and a bus commuter.

He adds, “The BMTC staff should be made aware of the dangers of it. There should also be campaigns talking about the dangers of footboard travelling and jumping off the bus. Street drama, rally, door-to-door approach etc should be used to send the message across.”

Such actions should be fined at the earliest. Divyashree S, a BCA student says, “I travel from Malleswaram to Hebbal everyday and I see this happening regularly at the Kuvempu Circle. But this could also be because there are no proper busstops and the drivers don’t know where to let the passengers board or exit. When in a hurry, many take the easy way out and get off when the bus slows down. I recently saw a lady who tried to board a bus on the move. She fell off and her leg was just beside the tyre. She could have been gravely injured.”

B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic), says, “Due to the technological functioning (hydraulic doors) of the doors in the BMTC, there are no cases of accidents reported. It isn’t a rampant issue.”

Dayananda also adds that if a passenger gets off at an unmarked stop, the driver is at fault. “For creating unscheduled busstops, the driver is to blame. He will be fined for the same,” he says.